| SF girls accept gift-wrapped win | By: By MIKE HUTCHENS, Messenger Sports Editor
| | Christmas came a week early for the South Fulton girls.
The Devilettes got a pre-holiday gift Tuesday night when a game-winning 3-pointer by Humboldt’s Patra Hubbard with less than a second left was wiped away by a timeout and allowed SF to escape with a narrow 57-55 District 14A victory.
The was no such drama in the boys’ game as the Vikings outmanned the Redmen from the opening tip and blew them out of their own gymnasium in an 82-22 romp.
Both SF teams will play once more before Christmas when they host double-A Westview Friday night.
SF 57, Humboldt 55 (G)
After Hubbard’s shot from the left wing was disallowed when a timeout signaled for by Humboldt coach Louis Johnson was rightfully granted just before she launched the attempt, nine-tenths of a second was put back on the scoreboard clock.
Hubbard then missed a second attempt from beyond the 3-point line after catching the inbounds pass, giving SF a victory that had appeared to elude the Devilettes only a minute earlier.
“It was a gift,” South Fulton head coach Curt Lee agreed. “Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. We’ll take every win we can get, any way we can get it.”
The Devilettes (5-5, 5-3), who’d led by as many as 12 points at the half after running off a dozen unanswered markers, left the door open for a H’boldt comeback down the stretch after committing the last of their 23 turnovers.
Hubbard’s trey following a pair of made Cherrisa Vinson free throws cut a six-point deficit in half with 27 seconds to play, and another 3-pointer by Tasha Herron with seven ticks showing narrowed the difference to 56-55. Vinson then made the second of two charities with 4.9 seconds showing before Hubbard quickly advanced the ball into frontcourt and pulled up for her would-be heroic deed that was immediately wiped off by an official’s correct call.
SF struggled throughout the contest with turnovers and allowed the Lady Vikings numerous second shots via offensive rebounds, yet still found a way to come out on top.
Chelsea Cox recorded a double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Vinson added 13 markers and Brooke Kane accounted for 11.
Cox and Vinson tallied six points apiece in the second stanza when the Devilettes broke away from the last of six ties with a surge of 12 straight points that helped them to a 31-19 halftime lead.
A Cilisha Harper trifecta late in the third frame cut the gap to 43-38, but the Lady Vikings — who struggled all night with poor shooting — twice missed wide-open layups that would’ve gotten them closer sooner in the final period.
Vinson made 5-of-6 foul shots in the last 48 seconds to help the victors hold on at the end.
“When we didn’t turn the ball over and got it to the spots where we needed to, I thought we executed well and converted on the offensive end,” Lee added. “We had way too many turnovers and gave up a ton of offensive rebounds, but the girls played hard for the most part against a quicker, more talented team.”
Humboldt 82, SF 22 (B)
The Redmen (1-9, 1-7) were in way over their heads against a physically-superior Viking bunch that overwhelmed SF from the get-go with their athleticism.
H’boldt led 10-0 before the game was barely a minute old and expanded on its already-commanding 21-6 first-quarter lead with a flurry of 12 unanswered points to start the second quarter.
South Fulton didn’t reach double figures until 1:15 left before halftime when Hunter Harris scored to make it 39-10 and the Devils went into intermission with more turnovers (14) than points while trailing 41-12 at the half.
The Vikings essentially poured it on in the third period, still pressing fullcourt against the outclassed Redmen and running off 25 straight points to begin the second half before Harris finally got SF on the board at the 1:59 mark.
The clock ran continuously via the 35-point mercy rule over the final eight minutes.
Harris had 12 of South Fulton’s 22-point total and just three other players scored. | | | | |
